State could help Fresno-area hepatitis C sufferers afford costly drugs

Just weeks into a new drug treatment for hepatitis C, Travis Poole felt like getting out of bed and going back to work as a painting contractor. “I had new energy; I didn’t tire as easily,” he said. “My whole world did a 180, from knowing I was dying to knowing I had a new chance on life.” Poole, 51, of Clovis, is one of the beneficiaries of a new — but expensive — drug for hepatitis C. Sovaldi, one of two pills that he took daily for 24 weeks, cost $1,000 apiece. The second cost $100 a tablet.